just woke from a really weird dream. everyone in my fb friends was performing something at my end of year recital I throw, paul/pablo of wapsi square was our school teacher, I was emcee. he had me give everyone a pep talk right before hand, then lead everyone in stretches before the show, and I came up with a new stretch that seems like something I should do as a dance warmup. wide stance squat, take your arms around and behind your bum, hands clasped under you. apply tension by ’sitting’ on your vlasped hands (or if you are less flexible, grasp bottom of thighs with hands and pull) - kind of a yoga cat feel in the spine, while squatting, keeping shoulders dropped and shoulder blades aligned with the flat back. this would stretch shoulder, back, and thighs all in one go. does anyone know if this is a real stretch, and if so, what is it called? in my dream I called it the monster squat, and I just tried it while not asleep, and it popped a million sore bits in my back….

so, twitter/facebook status seems to be taking the place of blogging. why? not sure. regardless, I need to convince myself of getting back in the habit of blogging more often, and in more than 240 characters! oh, and I finally figured out how I want to do my webcomic without being too much like every other comic out there. keep an eye out, I will make an announcement once I get it moving. inspiration has struck, and I am hoping that it will be interesting to others…

mineral/loose eye shadows in vibrant colors!
“magnetic” curlers/rollers
a well fitting long black skirt
some nicer blouses/tops that are not button-downs
4 ga “diamond” plugs (bodyartforms.com)

Here is a list of stuff I’d want for Christmas, if you brought things to grownups…

A Nintendo Wii
An underbust corset from Timeless Trends (http://www.timeless-trends.com)
A pair of nice, supportive running shoes
Pretty much all of the Hal Leonard “Play Along” sheet music series books
A new microwave that doesn’t make weird noises and has a working display

So, I love food, food with textures and layers of flavor. Stuff most people I know would go “eew, you sure?” about…

Well here’s one. Fresh pomegranate seeds, folded with bleu cheese crumbled into bitty bits, mixed with enough ranch dressing to keep it all moist and creamy, and 2 dashes of tabasco. I ate it with the itty bitty chips left at the bottom of a bag of tostitos, but it would be good with anything crunchy and salty.

It’s awesome, because you start out with the creamy bleu taste, then you bite the pomegranate and get the burst of tangy sweet juice, and then as you’re crunching the chips, you start to feel the peppery burn from the Tabasco. Mmm!

It would also be good with celery, maybe buttery crackers, something with a good crunch you can savor.

Anyhow, I just thought I’d share - pomegranate + bleu cheese = super yummy.

yeah, so I had a choir rehearsal tonight, and I noticed something. I can sing in my nice mixed voice for hours (2 hours tonight, and I could have kept going for a good while longer), but then when I go back to speaking, my voice gets kinda husky until I get my throat really clear (loads of swallowing/water). this isn’t something I ever paid attention to while still at school because I was still developing a good strong mixed voice then (inconsistent at the time). any ideas about why this happens? too much chest in my mix? but my singing tonight was free and easy, even up to b or c above the staff(before I have to flip into my head voice), no pushing or straining? I did have a hard time hitting A below the staff by the end of 2 hours, it came out awfully whispery. I know some of my bloggy friends also sing, and teach singing as well… I request a brain picking!

oh and I forgot, happy birthday to me, first year in forever that I don’t get an actual birthday party, thanks to this stupid virus. I would rather be sick at thanksgiving than over the last 2 weeks of october. at least my husband is taking me out to dinner to Tucano’s tonight - he even said he would let them sing in brazilian at me and bang their drums, if it made me feel better. still not my annual costume party, but just about as good.

stupid virus made my son miss his first kindergarten field trip, and his turn at show and tell. it means my daughter misses her first preschool halloween parade… stupid stupid virus. my kids have to miss another day, even though neither one is still contagious, because they are still coughing so much it’s gross.

so, o forgotten blog of mine… I am pretty sure I have some form of influenza. my doc doesn’t do the test to see if its swine flu or not, so I have no clue what strain I’ve got. but needless to say, I feel super-crappy. last night was the worst, my fever was around 103 and I all weird and dizzy until my meds kicked in, but I am not sleeping well thanks to massive coughing, lung congestion, and sinus blockage. it makes my apnea seem like nothing! My hubs says I sound like a freight train… at least I have gotten some reading done - Ursula K LeGuin’s Lathe of Heaven was a good read, and meshed well with my fever dreams! At least I have my phone with me, if I fall asleep while reading, I don’t lose my place, plus I can check facebook and post to my blog with it. oh, and a couple nights ago I sliced a piece of my thumb off with a cheese grater, and now every time I wash my hands, the thumb hurts for half an hour (which pretty much means it hurts all the time). I have been debating an attempt a knitting - somehow I think whatever I work on now will end up being taken apart and re-done, thanks to the lack of a coherent attention span…

So, the continuing education flyer came in the mail today… and they have got a Tap/Jazz dance class for my kids! My boy is so excited, he has been asking me about “tappy dance” all summer…

And next semester my classes should be in the flyer, too! I am hoping to teach a music appreciation and group voice class to start, and will add world music and group woodwinds if the spring semester goes well.

Now I just need 2 more music students, so I can pay for the classes. I’d love like, 6 more, but I’ll take what I can get.